House Arrest in St. Pete Food Stamp Fraud Case

Back in April, we posted about a St. Petersburg food stamp fraud case being prosecuted by the U.S. Attorney’s office in Tampa. The defendant Anton Goubrial pleaded guilty to two felonies as part of a plea agreement with the prosecutors.

Goubrial was back in court recently for sentencing. According to the agreement Goubrial’s federal criminal defense attorney reached with the U.S. Attorney, the government recommended a downward departure from the sentencing guidelines for Goubrial’s crimes. The judge ultimately sentenced him to six months’ home detention and five years’ probation. The court also entered a money judgment of $174,310.95 against Goubrial – he is essentially required to pay the government back all of the proceeds of his fraud.

The government had accused Goubrial of conducting the food stamp scheme at Watson’s Food Store in St. Petersburg. They claimed that he provided customers with cash for their food stamps in return for a substantial cash kickback. Food stamps can only legally be exchanged for food items.

Goubrial faced up to 20 years in prison on the wire fraud charges and up to 5 years in prison on the food stamp charges. Despite the seriousness of the charges, his defense attorney was able to negotiate a substantial departure from the worst case scenario.